Students investigate biodiversity of wildlife in their backyard (schoolyard) by selecting and mapping out areas they expect to be high in biodiversity in part one. Part two uses a larger area to make observations about the area by using “biodiversity clues.”

Students explore a forest at designated stations, using their vision and, blindfolded, their other senses. By engaging with the forest in a personal, multisensory activity, students will become more sensitive to the components of a forest, and hopefully, treat our landscapes with increased respect.

Students use forest stores from their ecoprovince to examine and define the elements of food chains and food webs including abiotic and biotic interactions. Students as ‘food chain roles’ participate in an string webbing activity that demonstrates how roles are inter-connected and the resilience of food webs to adapt to stresses.

Students take a census of an outdoor site, and look for organisms that perform different “jobs” in the biotic community. A biotic (or natural) community is made up of the various organisms that live and interact with one another in a particular environment. As in a human community, its members have different roles and depend on each other for survival. In this activity, students examine a study area to find out what organisms live there and the ecological jobs or niches they fill.

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